Direct Admissions, Tutoring, and Access to Higher Education

Abstract

The greater opportunity for high school students in seeking direct admission into the university
also comes with additional expenses for their parents to shoulder. Their cost of education
rises further with extra classes taken at cram schools. This growing financial burden would
make it difficult for poor families. The ensuing disparity in access to higher education in Thailand
deserves a careful study with household economics serving as the underlying framework.
The survey result from a sample of 705 freshmen class of 2014 shows that 6 out of 10 students
had direct admission. Those who had performed well in high school would prefer to take tutorial
courses at cram schools. The multinomial probit analysis finds that a student is more likely
to gain a college admission if one of these favorable conditions is true: (1) father earns a high
income (2) mother is highly educated (3) student attends a public school (4) students earns a
high grade point average or (5) students takes tutorial classes.